danube

WaTch
34 /2010

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E D A N U B E R I V E R / W W W. I C P D R . O R G

6 The red sludge

Tragedy
On 4 October, a dam broke at an aluminium production facility spilling 700,000 m3
of red sludge.

26 Finding room For

navigaTion and The

environmenT
Can sustainable waterway infrastructure
projects create win-win solutions for the
environmental needs of the river?

29 milesTone near

For laundry
deTergenTs!

At Persina Nature Park in Bulgaria, a Natura 2000 area and the biggest
Ramsar site in the country, a model payment for economic services
(PES) scheme will be set up based on the potential and economic
efficiency of producing biomass from wetlands. Credit: Ivanov

Promoting
Payments for
Ecosystem
Services in the
Danube Basin
Arranging payments for the
benefits provided by forests,
fertile soils and other natural
ecosystems is a way to
recognise their value and
ensure that these benefits
continue well into the future.

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The WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, as part of

a major UNEP GEF-funded project focusing on ecosystem services in the Lower Danube, is developing a
model scheme to encourage river basin administrators
to maintain and eventually introduce water management
practices, supporting biodiversity and preserving the
natural landscape. The model scheme will ensure that
land managers are paid as providers of these invaluable
services.
Funding opportunities for this payment for ecosystem
services (PES) scheme are seen in tourism activities, green
labels for fish production, as well as in the Fisheries

30 DANUBE WATCH

Operational Programme of the EU, and in the cost

recovery principle of the EU Water Framework Directive. If successful, local people and the local economy
will benefit greatly from this scheme.
The dependency of human society on ecosystem
services makes the loss of these services a serious
threat to the future well-being and development
of the world. This project promotes and supports
land managers who help us sustain the benefits that
we all get from nature, says Project Manager Maya
Todorova.
abouT PaymenTs For ecosysTem services
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is an
innovative approach to nature conservation and
includes a variety of arrangements through which
the beneficiaries of environmental services from
watershed protection and forest conservation to
carbon sequestration and landscape beauty reward those whose lands provide these services with
subsidies or market payments.

in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine, and to serve

as an example for other international river basins, says
Todorova.
P?E>@>8A t? AFpp?:t @7;<R8. Most of the schemes that
will be set up under the Danube PES project will
require the institutional framework to be changed to
launch them in practice. The state, businesses and the
civil sector in participating countries will all need to
be stirred to action to promote this novel approach
to nature conservation. The project starts at a time of
critical policy debate at European level.

The replacement of the Lisbon Strategy the so-called

EU 2020 strategy will place more emphasis on sustainability issues and will be reflected in the EU financial
framework discussions already under way, said Todorova. Industrial policy, research policy, agricultural
policy and so on are all affected by these moves towards
an eco-efficient economy.

The model scheme in

Iezer and Ciocanesti
fishponds, protected areas
included in the Natura
2000 network in Calaras
county, Romania, will be
designed to accumulate
funds to protect bird
species. Funding opportunities for this payment
for ecosystem services
scheme are seen in
tourism activities, green
labels for fish production,
as well as in the Fisheries
Operational Programme
of the EU. Credit: WWF
DCPO/Lucius

Arranging payments for the benefits provided by

forests, fertile soils and other natural ecosystems
is a way to recognise their value and ensure that
these benefits continue well into the future.
Across the world, environmental conservation
is critical to secure the flow of ecosystem services that are essential for people and nature.
With funding for natural resource management
dwindling, a variety of PES schemes have emerged
as potential sources of sustainable financing for
conservation.
PES encourage the maintenance of natural ecosystems through environmentally friendly practices
that avoid damage for other users of the natural
resources. In addition to preserving natural resources, this method improves rural areas and rural
lifestyles.
uA><R <;tF:8A ?w< @;p;O>E>t>8A. Rusenski Lom, another
model site for the Danube PES project, is a nature park
and a Natura 2000 site situated along the lower stretch
of the Danube in northern Bulgaria. What environmentalists would most like to see here is the improvement of
the water retention capacities of the rich riverine habitats. The ecosystem service potential in this area relates
to nature-friendly flood risk management and sustainable
tourism. The model PES scheme will encourage riparian
land owners and users to maintain and even restore the
natural grass or wood cover along the river.

Essentially, the goal of the project is to promote the

concept and practice of Payments for Ecosystem Services

The project also comes at a time of growing awareness

of climate change, requiring the urgent and adequate
reactions of all countries. For example, at Persina Nature
Park in Bulgaria, a Natura 2000 area and the biggest
Ramsar site in the country, a model PES scheme will be
set up based on the potential and economic efficiency
of producing biomass from wetlands.
To me, it is also obvious that it is in the interest of
businesses to maintain ecosystem services, because
most businesses depend on the provision of natural
resources to operate, says Todorova. It makes sense for
businesses to support activities that help our ecosystems
and, at the same time, to work towards minimising the
negative impact on nature.
For more information, please visit: http://wwf.
panda.org/dcpo.
Olga Apostolova is the regional communications officer for the WWF
Danube-Carpathian Programme.

DANUBE WATCH 31